Poems on Slavery

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Poems on Slavery (1842)
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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First published in 1842, this transcription is of the second edition, published the same year.

11200Poems on Slavery1842Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

POEMS

ON

SLAVERY.

BY

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

SECOND EDITION.

CAMBRIDGE:
PUBLISHED BY JOHN OWEN.

M DCCC XLII.

POEMS ON SLAVERY.

POEMS

ON

SLAVERY.

BY

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

SECOND EDITION.

CAMBRIDGE:
PUBLISHED BY JOHN OWEN.

M DCCC XLII.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and forty-two, by H. W. Longfellow, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

CAMBRIDGE:
METCALF, KEITH, AND NICHOLS,
PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

CONTENTS

PAGE
To William E. Channing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		9
The Slave's Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		11
The Good Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		15
The Slave in the Dismal Swamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		18
The Slave singing at Midnight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		21
The Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		23
The Quadroon Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		26
The Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		30

[The following poems, with one exception, were written at sea, in the latter part of October. I had not then heard of Dr. Channing's death. Since that event, the poem addressed to him is no longer appropriate. I have decided, however, to let it remain as it was written, a feeble testimony of my admiration for a great and good man]

POEMS.

The noble horse,That, in his fiery youth, from his wide nostrilsNeighed courage to his rider, and brake throughGroves of opposed pikes, bearing his lordSafe to triumphant victory, old or wounded,Was set at liberty and freed from service.The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drewMarble, hewed for the Temple of the Gods,The great work ended, were dismissed and fedAt the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have foundTheir sepulchres; but man, to man more cruel,Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave.Massinger.

CAMBRIDGE:
METCALF, KEITH, AND NICHOLS,
PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

This work was published before January 1, 1930, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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